Gender Diversity in Editorial Boards of Neonatal Journals

Background: Historically, women have been underrepresented in medicine compared to the general population. Throughout the years, their representation in medical school has significantly increased. While gender diversity in medicine is slowly increasing, this does not necessarily correlate to gender inclusion. There are many areas within the medical field in which inequities exist, particularly regarding career advancements, including holding positions on leadership boards, including journal editorial boards. This type of gender disparity could reflect a lack of equity for women in the field of Neonatology, Perinatology, Maternal-Fetal Medicine, and Pediatrics. This can impact career progression in both academic and clinical settings and promote gender based discrimination in the workplace. Women physicians are increasing in number, with many candidates holding titles of associate professors and professors. While women may face more societal pressures on balancing personal life and career, it should not have any impact on their representation in leadership positions. However, there is research showing delay in career advancement and fewer women in higher ranking positions compared to their male counterparts.

Our objective is to quantify gender representation among editorial boards of neonatal/perinatal/pediatric journals and examine gender inequities.

Methods: An analysis of 50 editorial boards of Neonatal, Perinatal, Pediatric, and Maternal-fetal medicine journals from across the world. Evaluation of the editorial boards included documenting the difference in genders among the editors-in chief, deputy editors, executive editors, associate editors, and section editors of the published journals.

Results: Of the 50 editors-in chief, 22% were women and only 2 executive editors were noted, both of whom were men. Women composed 39% of the 23 associate editors. Of the 9 journal boards that included a deputy editor, 4 (44%) of them had a women holding that position, while of the 21 journals which included a section editor, 29% were women. From all 50 journals, the executive boards composed a total of 1,338 editors, with 439 (33%) of them being women and 899 (67%) being men.

Conclusion: The current data shows that women hold the minority of editorial positions compared to men. Future direction in the field should emphasize a push towards more equal representation of men and women on editorial boards and in positions of leadership overall. This can decrease bias and discrimination in the workplace, while also lessening the gender gap in the workforce.